Thursday, March 9, 2017

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Team Clean will be steaming into Hobart today round midday after another successful expedition! Check out our media alert below and please come down to the docks to wave us in if you're in Hobart town round lunchtime.

Media Alert

Persistence pays off

Sunday 26th February 2017

What: Team Clean return to Hobart with 66,000+ pieces of rubbishWhen: Midday today. The rubbish will be unloaded tomorrow morningWhere: Kings Pier, Hobart

Tasmania’s most extreme beach cleaners will steam into Hobart today, along with 66,000+ pieces of marine debris from Tasmania’s remote South West Wilderness World Heritage Area.

“Marine debris is a massive global issue that has serious impacts on our wildest and most spectacular World Heritage beaches” said clean up coordinator Matt Dell.

“Despite wild weather, heavy seas and challenging beach landings, we’ve successfully cleaned up some of the most heavily polluted beaches in South West Tasmania and we’re finally seeing the years of hard work paying off. The amount of rubbish present and collected was significantly less than on previous visits.

28 volunteers travelled to the World Heritage Area on four local fishing boats, including 13 year old Scotch Oakburn student Theo Wolfhagen, who joined the expedition as part of the exciting new interactive Coast Watchers education program.

“Small plastic debris is a big problem that my generation should not have to clean up” said Theo.

Coast Watchers aims to help schools investigate the pressing issue of marine debris, through an interactive online blog, lesson plans that are mapped to both primary and secondary school curriculums and resources for schools to conduct beach clean ups in their local area.

The expedition also collected important data on coastal change and sent out a daily blog via satellite phone that has reached hundreds of primary and high school students across the country, with 20 schools signing up to join the Coast Watchers program.

Saturday, February 25, 2017

This morning we awoke in our New Harbour anchorage to the sight of Captain Dave scrubbing splattered squid ink from the side of the Wilson Voyager after the previous night's fishing! This was occurring under the watchful eye of Captain Tom who was supremely unimpressed with the ink stains left on the hull of the otherwise beautifully presented Wilson's voyager. With that task done we departed to Cox's Bight.

Sadly the southerly swell had picked and combined with a large sand build up on the eastern side of Point Eric which thwarted our plans to land dinghies and clean the beach. While the size of the swell made the remainder of the beaches on the South West coast inaccessible, the surfers on the cleanup team were excited with the possibility of catching a wave in south cape bay!

Finally the our 4 vessels began the 40 mile steam across the entire south coast of Tasmania. The crews fished for Bluefin tuna while the albatross and short tailed shearwaters wheeled overhead in the clear blue sky and a light westerly breeze blew us steadily eastward toward Rechereche Bay.

While the bluefin tuna fishing effort proved unsuccessful, Masaaki, Lachie, Claire and Phil donned their wetsuits and caught us a feed of southern rock lobster and sea urchin for a pre-dinner snack once when we arrived in Recherche Bay. At the same time Rachael, Pat and Jess went for a forest fact-finding mission around the shores of Rocky Bay.

Importantly, most of us regained phone reception and we were finally able to figure out the answer to a question that had been dogging us for the whole week - namely how long is league? It turns out to be 1.5556km. You read it here first folks!

The rubbish is all bagged on the back deck of Rumours - ready for the final leg of the voyage to Hobart docks and then on to the recycling centre and tip on Monday morning.

We started from our peaceful anchorage at Clayton's Corner, cruising through Bathurst Harbour and then the Narrows to the Breaksea Islands and into the Southern Ocean. Turning South we headed into Noyhener Bay to investigate access to the beach, the swell already approaching four metres, the decision was made to land – a very thrilling trip in the zodiac through the enormous breaking surf.

With everyone safely on the beach the clean up began in earnest, spending five hours at the task before there was an urgency to return to the boats as the weather worsened. Dave Wyatt of the Velocity made four daring journeys through the surf to pick up the bags of rubbish and a handful of the crew before it became too dangerous to continue. The remaining twelve of us decided to walk two hours all the way back to Spain Bay in Port Davey were it would be safe to land the dinghy.

The walk was an adventure in itself, the key was to find to find a safe route between Noyhener and Stephens beach, to do this we had to walk through a billabong which felt like we were in Lord of the rings. After that we traversed beautiful Stephens beach meeting Bob Brown along the way.

Once all of us were aboard the Velocity we commenced the sorting and counting of the days work, then cruised back out into the ocean and headed South again toward South West Cape, then around and on to New Harbour where the other three boats were awaiting. It was an exhilarating run in four metre swells with wheeling albatross, short tailed shearwaters, fairy prions feeding and seeming to revel in the rough weather.

We arrived at last light to anchor with the other boats, all of us cold and tired from the long and eventful day, and pleased to find dinner prepared for us and ready to eat immediately on our arrival.

A great day of beach cleaning mixed with adventure. Cox's bight tomorrow!

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Dawn revealed in stark contrast, the antithesis of the previous evening's perfection. I'll digress 12 hours to the close to yesterday's clean-up, to an afternoon that defies suitable description. Nonetheless, I'll give it a go for all those who couldn't join us, namely Ulla, a veteran of the Clean-up team and regular star performer who had to thumb a ride to Hobart on the Extremity; a local Uber Abalone Boat, to fulfil her duties as bridesmaid at another seaside town in Victoria. That right there is the kind woman everyone needs on their Bridal team.

In a region that is within direct sight of the South West Cape, infamously known for its inclement weather and unruly seas, we witnessed an evening that could only be described as sublime. A balmy Northerly wind fanned a dropping swell and there were few clouds to speak of save the Mares Tails up high & in the distance. Notable because they provide forewarning of strong winds and a change in weather, for those in the know - which wasn't me by the way, I just thought they were pretty clouds! But, if you're like Rory and are accustomed to cloud interpretation, you're ahead of the game.

The extended late summer weather, resulted in a climate so pleasant that none of us wanted to see the day or evening end. Entering Port Davey on the Velocity and enjoying the view from the Fly Bridge, sipping on Moo Brew Pilsners, we witnessed conditions slowly improve on what already seemed to be perfection. Once behind the Breaksea Islands, the wind calmed as did the surface water, to produce a still, glassy and reflective water way. Millpond I believe is the appropriate term. To see the largest, most pristine estuary in Southern Australia in a state of total calm was a sight to behold. It's a memorable experience that further enforces the need for greater protection for areas of significant environmental importance. To see this Australian Wilderness at its penultimate but knowing full well the landscape and local species are endangered from our day to day use of plastics, highlights the need for greater awareness around this global issue.

This week we've collected over 55,000 pieces of trash, with close to 8,000 from yesterday's haul. I suspect that if we ventured out each day to the next accessible beach, we could recreate the same scenario infinitely unless we change our ways. Given this can't occur, it's awesome that you're checking out the blog and offering your support to those that can contribute their time and efforts annually on all our behalf.

For today though, the priority was safety. With the Mares Tail forecast proving accurate, a 20-30 knot Westerly blew up and with rising seas, making the open beaches inaccessible. It gave us the chance to check out the estuary while we docked at Claytons Hut to fill up on fresh rain water. The water, kindly supplied courtesy of Winsome & Clyde Clayton's Rain Water tanks. The Claytons lived here from the 1950's until 2006.

This area has a wonderful local history and the unique aspects of the estuary itself provide habitat for many amazing animals such as Sea Pens, Seastars, Whitley's Skate, Basket Stars and Sea Whips. Realizing that you've contributed on a small scale to help preserve this region for a short period is a rewarding experience and highly recommended.

While the boats tanks filled, we took the opportunity to stretch the legs and tramp up Claytons Hill and to the top of Mt Beatie to absorb in the panoramic views.

The week's debris gathering, squatting, hauling, sorting and counting certainly builds up a healthy appetite so we convened at the Claytons Hut in the afternoon to light a fire and pull out the ships fry pan for a huge cook up, The team rallied and managed to produce a gourmet feast from the food generously supplied by the trips Sponsors. The Worsthaus Steaks and small goods combined with your choice of either an ice-cold Gillespie Ginger Beer or a frosty Moo Brew provided the days second highlight. Special thanks also to Craig Moysten for providing the ice for all four boats, which kept the food and beverages cold for the entire trip. These delights are no small gesture and ate great appreciated by the entire team. The meals and drinks throughout the day are definite something we look forward to and make the trip more enjoyable.
With most of the day past, we're left to harbour in Port Davey for the remainder of the night and recharge for a blustery day tomorrow. The forecast abates somewhat and we'll look to commence the clean up on the Southern beaches around Stevens Beach of Cox bight.
Fingers crossed- we can get into the beach and make up for the lost day of cleaning.

Since Low Rocky Point was last cleaned in 2014, the numbers were consistent with todays count. Noticeable less large rubbish however, with similar amounts of small plastics, bait savers and rope.

On face value, Mulcahy Bay seemed pristine but after some searching by the remaining group, a total count reached over 8000 items along a circa 1 kilometre stretch. The usual small plastic candidates were again in the thousands, including a my little pony, a plastic polar bear and a "trolls" Pez candy dispenser.

After a warm sunny afternoon, with high cirrus clouds heralding a strong Northerly wind,
we turned tail and headed for Port Davey and safe anchorage.

The final count for both crews exceeded 11,000 individual items, another reminder of the importance in keeping our beaches and coast line pristine.

Hopefully tomorrow conditions will permit us to hit Stephens beach for a cleanup. Stephens is documented as having the highest wave energy of any beach in Australia, so even though we cleaned it up real good last year, we would expect there to be a fair bit of litter churned up from the sand. We'll see…

We were greeted with a sunny sky this morning at Towterer beach, and headed to the shore with a few butterflies in our tummies – last time this beach was cleaned it took us two days! A small science team was dispatched to survey the dunes and towering middens, and the rest of us got stuck into the rubbish. The first great find was a message in a bottle, launched from Kergualen Plateau in 2014, and the second was.. another message in a bottle! This one from Kettering by a yacht that had just completed the Sydney to Hobart, also in 2014, but had not won so we threw it back (…JOKE not really). The other rubbish collected included a lot of our favourite SMALL PLASTICS, in particular a very large number of nerdles. Once you start finding them, you can't stop, and we all got on our hands and knees! The total for the day was 15000, significantly less than the 28,000 haul from 2 years ago, however given the recent rain we suspect much of the small plastics were buried just under the surface. Our days work ended with a steam up to Mulchay Bay, where we found a good spot for a dive/snorkel and a few waves which, despite a rolley count, made for four boats of happy punters.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

The day started with some keen workers going for a morning dip in the 16deg waters of Schooner Cove, due to the unfavourable surfing conditions this was the first wash for many!

We then set sail for Green Island Main beach, a veritable treasure trove of small plastics buried amongst the fragrant rotting kelp the area is well known for. It didn't disappoint and the team gathered over 15000 pieces in 3-4hours of intense pit diving.
Matt also used the time to refine his 3D mapping techniques using drones and GPS in a most impressive display of technological wizardy.
Whilst the count was lower than previous years, we were still disappointed to see that such a huge quantity of plastic had accumulated since last year, but most notably in smaller forms.
The afternoons adventures in plastic continued further around the corner at The Duckhole, a quite pleasant stoney beach underlayed with mountains of rope hairs and more small plastics. Lucky us! Masaaki fabricated some spectacular eyewear in form of two holey limpets, which provided some excellent sun protection from the blazing sunshine. Technical difficulty here of 8/10 due to prolific stinging nettles and jackjumper nests, and at least one Tiger snake was spotted. Final tally for this extraction coming soon!

We then headed to South East Bight to try and escape the neverending roll of the exposed West Coast where we have anchored for the night.

The plan for tomorrow in to head to Towterer, but while writing this we have just been informed that The Mulcahy is more likely due to weather conditions. This may well change a few times before we set off tomorrow and we will end up where the wind blows us, as is the norm on the cleanup. Wherever we go there will be rubbish to collect we can be sure of that !

After an early rise, we made our way from Ketchem Bay, around South West Cape and into the sheltered waters of Spain Bay. Abundant wildlife encountered along the way and even tuna landed…. and lost! The first clean of the trip was Spain Bay beach. We stared at the western end, working our way to the east. It was a good warm up day for the large clean up crew on the beach. Everyone got the chance to get their eye in and zone in on the thousands of tiny pieces of plastic. We steamed around the corner into Schooner Cove and rafted up the boats to get stuck into the count. The rubbish count was higher than expected but the many hands made light work of it. Another very rewarding day for Team Clean!!!!!

Saturday, February 18, 2017

The troops from the Rumours and the Velocity rallied down at the wharf at Southport this morning. Excitement was rippling through the air. Any human that's been lucky enough to venture around the South West cape before know's that we're in for a treat. Only the eyes of the fortunate few that have rested upon this raw and inaccessible part of the earth. Rugged and dramatic, the South West Cape lurches out of the ocean, making feel small and insignificant in the shadow of the majestic coastline. For this very reason the anticipation was palpable.

The sun beamed down as we packed the last of our supplies onto the decks, and put our ginger beers on ice in preparation for the journey ahead. Rumours and Velocity steamed out of port at close to 10:30am.

The Breaksea steamed down to Dover last night, and departed at a similar time to us this morning. Wilson Voyager got the jump on us having left Hobart last night, and anchoring at Recerche for the
night... They are out in front.

When we hit the exposed ocean, we look set to encounter a solid 4 meter swell with the icing on the cake being a 1.5m chop of sea on top... As we round the corner we'll be greeted by a friendly 25 knot nor'westerly headwind. Looking forward to some exciting adventures ahead...

Friday, February 17, 2017

Tasmania’s most extreme beach cleaners (that's us) have launched a ground-breaking education program ahead of their annual expedition to clean up some of Australia’s most remote beaches in Tasmania’s spectacular World Heritage Area.

“As a society we are still letting vast amounts of plastic get into the environment. A comprehensive education campaign is the only way to empower the next generation of leaders to act decisively on this global issue”Matt Dell, Cleanup Coordinator.

This year, for the first time, students from across Australia will have the chance to learn about the impacts of marine debris first hand via ‘Coast Watchers’, an innovative new education program, as teacher Pat Spiers and student Theo Wolfhagen join the crew through a partnership with the Bookend Trust.

Coast Watchers aims to help schools investigate the pressing issue of marine debris, through an interactive online blog, lesson plans that are mapped to both primary and secondary school curriculums and resources for schools to conduct beach clean ups in their local area.

Coast Watchers will begin tomorrow, when Team Clean’s crew of 28 hardy volunteers will board four local fishing boats and head to the south-west coast to tackle the wave of marine debris head on. Last year, the team cleaned up a record-breaking 82,815 pieces of rubbish that had washed ashore in Tasmania’s spectacular World Heritage Area.

Coast Watchers will reach hundreds of primary and high school students across the country, with 20 schools signing up to join the program.

“Plastic pollution is trashing some of our most precious beaches. We’re absolutely committed to fighting this toxic wave of marine debris that’s choking our oceans and helping to develop a new generation of coastal custodians,” said Mr Dell.

Thursday, February 16, 2017

The morning was spent checking out the new Gillespies Ginger Beer factory out at Barilla Bay. Sam has been a long term supporter, supplying the crew with free ginger beer and even it making it around the coast a few years back. I find the non alcoholic beverage a perfect tonic for those unfortunate enough to feel seasick in the first few days of the voyage.

It was also the Cleanups birthday with two loads of goodies for the crew arriving from Patagonia, Ula helped divvy up the spoils for each of the four boats. Thanks to Matt and Dane at Patagonia Australia.

The forecast is looking better by the day hopefully we can get the two boats from Hobart away sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Thursday, February 9, 2017

With 8 days to go the crew are all in preparation mode with jobs to finish up, and gear to get ready for what looks like interesting trip around the coast. This year a crew of 28 will make the voyage around to the remote beaches of South west Tasmania. We will be documenting our journey this site as well as Instagram, Facebook and Cosatwatchers our online interactive curriculum for Primary and High School students. The long term forecast has us facing a rather large swell and plenty of wind. Hopefully the forecast as wrong......